Dougherty talks about the receivers

UW receivers coach Jimmie Dougherty was an obvious choice for media inquiries this week.
Here’s some of what he had to say:On the attitude this week: “They’ve bounced back great. It’s a group that, no matter what happens, and hopefully we’ll get to the point where they’re coming off a lot of wins and they are dealing with success…but whether we have success or adversity, these guys show up, Monday, ready to work every week. They always give us a hundred percent, and they are chomping at the bit to get back out there today and get after these guys.”On frustrations with a few guys out due to injury: “It’s tough. Like coach Sark talks about all the time, you don’t know when adversity will hit, you don’t know what form it’s going to come in…whatever. That’s a sign of a good, mature football team – when they can deal with adversity like that…whether it be the weather not being the way you thought it was going to be, whether it be or a turnover, or injuries going on in your football team. That’s where depth has to come into play and guys have to be ready to step in and make those plays and I think they are going to do that.”

On Jermaine Kearse and drops: “It’s all about confidence. A guy is struggling shooting the basketball, he’s going to be a guy that’s going to stay afterwards and shoot a thousand free throws to get it right, just to get that confidence up. And that’s all it is right now. Jermaine’s trying a little too hard, and I think we’ve got several guys that want it a little too bad, if that make sense. I know that’s hard for people to see that but…guys trying to make plays…whenever the ball is in the air just relaxing and let your natural ability take over and making plays and relaxing.”On drills to improve that: “Like we talked about with the basketball playing shooting more free throws after practice…it’s hand-eye coordination, catching more balls. Which we’ve addressed and we’ve done a nice job of that…just tracking the ball a little bit better with his eyes. The confidence issue is huge. Right now I think he’s trying just a little too hard, thinking about it too much. You just want to let him work his way through it. He’s done it before and he’ll do it again.”On James Johnson and getting him more involved: “I think James is doing a good job. It may not show up in terms of catches, but every time he’s been in there he’s playing hard, he’s blocking, he’d doing all the little things right. Sometimes you just don’t get rewarded with a catch. He ran some good routes against Arizona State, and the coverage didn’t dictate that he got the ball in that coverage, so he’s going to keep on getting playing time. And as he keeps on getting healthy and doing things right in practice, hopefully it’ll show up in the stat line. But he’ll tell you too – the most important thing is that we come away with the victory.”On D’Andre Goodwin’s emergence the last two weeks: “I’m so proud of him. He’s come a long way. He battled back from a lot of adversity, and you never know what form or shape it’ll come in, and D’Andre is definitely a guy that has battled back from being low on the depth chart, and now he’s playing really confident and well and there’s a perfect example of a guy that’s playing with a lot of confidence right now, and you’re seeing it on the game field. We just have to keep him going. He’s had a great week of practice and he’s going to keep on playing well.”On OSU’s defense: “They play hard. We have to match that. That’s what we’ve talked about all week is matching and exceeding their level of hustle and effort and intensity. That’s what the game is going to come down to. They are talented, but they are not the most talented group, and they make up for it with great effort. And that’s what we have to bring tonight.”On analyzing the drops: “I don’t think it’s a physical effort or want to…there’s nobody in the stadium that wants to catch the ball more than Jermaine Kearse…and all my guys, they are all competitive kids that really care about playing well and helping the team win and when they don’t play well or drop a ball or miss an assignment, it hurts them. Which is how it should be. But it’s one of those things, you have to get back on the horse and you have to come out here and catch more balls and dial in a little bit more on looking the ball in – simple things like that you hear about day one – football 101. Again, the confidence issue…just relaxing and playing goes a long way. Like a baseball hitter in a slump, you can want to hit the ball too bad. So I think that’s a little of what goes on, so you have to help them through it from a confidence standpoint. Let them go out there, relax, have fun and make plays.”On if the struggles of one guy can impact the entire group: “Yeah, it can definitely get into people’s heads. If you see someone else struggling, it’s almost like ‘I don’t want that to happen to me now’. But you can’t play and play fast and play with success if you play timid or scared or afraid of making a mistake. And that’s what we’re trying to get through to our guys – just go out there, have confidence, play fast and make your plays when you have your opportunities.”On putting in extra work this week: “We’ve definitely addressed it. It’s not like we’re turning our heads to it. We know it’s an issue and you guys have seen us out here staying late…and it goes on both sides of the ball. Coach (Demetrice) Martin having the DB’s out here…we have to catch the ball when we’re on defense to so we can get some picks for our offense to get back out there. And sometimes it’s a matter of trying too hard. You don’t know when your opportunities are going to come…oh, there’s the ball in the air, I’ve got to make the play. It’s a matter of working through it. We’ve addressed it this week, staying out late and catching more balls…what it comes down to is these guys relaxing and playing and having confidence that they are going to make the play.”On if there was a number of passes extra he wanted them to catch: “No. We haven’t set a certain number like that. It’s more or less, let’s dial in a little more, let’s work a little bit harder, let’s stay out and catch some more balls. Simple as that.”On what Kearse has gotten away from: “I think a big part of it was just coming around the coach’s office a little bit more. It’s funny, because you think it’s all physical, but a lot of times it’s more mental than that, so that’s when you start making your physical mistakes. So that’s what we got on him more for…coming back into the coach’s office more, studying more tape…and that helps with your confidence when you go out and play because you know your opponent that much better and you can go out and play free. I don’t think he purposefully did it, and we didn’t allow it, but I think maybe he just got away from that a little bit of working hard in his preparation going into the game. So he’s definitely addressed that this week and has had a great week of preparation so far, and I’m looking forward to him having a great game on Saturday.”On Kearse taking efforts to fix the drops: “That he’s a great kid. Nobody wants to play better than Jermaine Kearse himself. He’s a kid that you don’t have to motivate him. He wants to play more than anybody in the stadium, and he wants to make these plays more than anybody. It’s killing him inside from a certain perspective, but he’s addressed it this week in wanting to come in, watch more film and dial in his preparation, and from a physical standpoint of staying out, catching balls and doing those kinds of things. He’s not a kid that shies away from the challenge of what it is. He understands what it’s been, takes full responsibility for it and knows he’s got to correct it. And he’s doing things to address it.”On Goodwin’s challenge to move back up the depth: “It’s extremely hard. D’Andre definitely went through the downs and the adverse side of things. He was down in the dumps a lot last year. We tried to pick him up and preach to him to play his role, and he’s really bought into what we’re doing here. He could really care less if he catches 10 balls or no balls. He just wants to play and help the team. It started out in fall camp, and you’re seeing the affects of it. I told him all the time in fall camp, you’re going to have a great year. The story is being written as we speak. I always thought there was a great story for him out there as far as battling back from that adversity, and now he’s seeing the rewards of playing at a high level. He just has to continue it. And I told him that too, after the USC game. I told him, your career isn’t done now. You’re going to make a lot more plays this year. He knew that. He kind of smiled at me. It was nice getting him in the end zone too. It had been a while. He liked that feeling, we’ve got to get him in there some more.”